The XFL announced Monday it has selected the city of Arlington as its new football operations hub and former Texas Rangers home Choctaw Stadium as its in-week performance center.

The spring pro football league made the announcement one day after unveiling its eight team markets in Arlington, Houston, San Antonio, Las Vegas, Seattle, St. Louis, Washington D.C., and Orlando, Florida, with its upcoming season slated to kick off on February 18, 2023—one week after the NFL season ends with Super Bowl LVII.

The XFL’s ownership group is led by Dany Garcia, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and Gerry Cardinale of RedBird Capital Partners, who bought the league in 2020 for $15 million. Garcia is the first female owner of a major American sports league. 

The XFL was originally launched in 2001 by former WWE CEO Vince McMahon in a joint venture by the then-WWF and NBC. It played for only one season in 2001, then was resurrected in 2020 by McMahon for a five-game season that ended in bankruptcy amid the pandemic.

Arlington XFL Hub will be an ‘around-the-clock content engine’

Players at the July 24 2022 XFL Showcase at Choctaw Stadium. [Photo: Matt Pearce,Mattman Images/Rick Yeatts/XFL]

“The XFL has officially landed in the great football state of Texas,” Dwayne Johnson said in a statement. “We’re bringing a new kind of football experience to fans, players, and partners, harnessing the power of modern technology, content, and interactivity to create a new standard for the future of sports and live event entertainment.”

Arlington and Choctaw Stadium (formerly Globe Life Park) will now be at the core of all that, as the home of the XFL’s Dallas Renegades and an operations hub and in-week performance center for the league.

“Our new hub allows us to provide 360-degree support for our players, both on and off the field,” said Dany Garcia. “Around-the-clock content capture will make our players the center of a unique football ecosystem and unlock a new level of fan engagement never seen before.”

Choctaw Stadium and nearby facilities will form hub

Players at the XFL showcase at Choctaw Stadium In Arlington Sunday. [Photo: Rick Yeatts/XFL]

Choctaw Stadium will serve as the in-week practice facility for the XFL’s Arlington and Houston teams, and will be the home stadium for the Dallas Renegades’ weekend games. In partnership with REV Entertainment, the exclusive event coordinator of Choctaw Stadium, the XFL will also use the stadium for “team meeting spaces, in-person entertainment, and fan engagement opportunities.”

The Arlington hub will also include three local practice facilities—Northwest ISD Stadium, Southlake Carroll Dragon Stadium, and Vernon Newsom Stadium.

Innovation is a ‘core principal’ of the XFL

Dwayne Johnson talking to players at the XFL showcase at Choctaw Stadium In Arlington Sunday. [Photo: Rick Yeatts/XFL]

Last February, the XFL and NFL announced a plan to collaborate on “”select innovation programs to further expand the game of football and create increased opportunities for player development both on and off the field.”

“The XFL has shown us that innovation is one of its core principles,” NFL executive VP of football operations Troy Vincent said in February. “We’re hopeful that this relationship will support further development and improvements in the game of football at all levels.”

XFL President Russ Brandon told ESPN in February that the NFL-XFL collaboration would give the big league a “petri dish” to experiment with new rules, new equipment, and the development of new officials and coaches. 

“Any opportunity that the NFL has to advance the game of football, I think they’ve always been open to, and we’ve had some really good dialogue, led by our ownership group,” Brandon told ESPN.

The XFL previously pioneered several on-air tech breakthroughs now common in NFL games, including aerial skycams and miked-up players on the field.

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